Obama unveils new sanctions against Russia, which bans U.S. lawmakers

Bodies covered with blankets lie in a field near the village of Blahodatne in eastern Ukraine after a clash between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists.
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A Ukrainian soldier stands near a destroyed truck at the site of a gunfight near the village of Blahodatne in which several soldiers were killed.
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A pro-Russian fighter uses his cellphone to take a photo of a burning cafe during a clash between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian militants at a checkpoint outside Slovyansk.
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A pro-Russian militant guards a checkpoint near the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
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Pro-Russian militants stand watch at their base at an undisclosed location in the Donesk region of Ukraine.
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A pro-Russia militant looks through binoculars at a checkpoint on the road from Donetsk to Mariupol in Ukraine on May 15.
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Votes are counted at a polling place in Donetsk, Ukraine, on May 11 after voters cast ballots on whether two eastern Ukrainian regions should become sovereign republics.
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A woman examines her ballot at a polling station in Mariupol, Ukraine, on May 11 during a referendum on greater autonomy for eastern Ukraine.
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An armed pro-Russian activist stands guard near ballot boxes in Donetsk, Ukraine, on May 11 during a referendum organized by the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic members.
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People wait in line in Budennovskiy, Ukraine, to vote in a May 11 referendum conducted by pro-Russian leaders in eastern Ukraine.
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A couple kiss at a barricade erected near a seized regional administration building in Donetsk, Ukraine, on May 11, the day residents of eastern Ukraine voted on a referendum organized by pro-Russian separatists.
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A pro-Russian gunman holds his machine gun and a flower during the commemoration of Victory Day in Donetsk, Ukraine on May 9. Victory Day honors the armed forces and the millions who died in World War II. This year it comes as Russia is locked in the worst crisis with the West, over Ukraine, since the end of the Cold War.
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Armed pro-Russian militants on top of an armored personnel carrier during Victory Day events in Slaviansk, Ukraine.
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Maidan, or Independence Square, in Kiev, is where the unrest in Ukraine began in November and now is the central location for those campaigning for president.
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Recruits take part in military exercises in the shooting range of the Ukrainian national guard near the village of Novy-Petrivtsi not far from Kiev on May 8.
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Pro-Russian supporters lead an unidentified man in front of the occupied regional administration building in Donetsk, Ukraine. Pro-Russian separatists said that up to 20 of their fighters may have been killed in clashes with government troops in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk.
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A medical worker holds an assault rifle as a wounded pro-Russian combatant exits a car at a hospital in the eastern Ukranian city of Slavyansk. Four Ukrainian troops were killed and 30 wounded in intense fighting around the rebel-held town of Slavyansk on May 5, the interior ministry said.
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A pro-Russian activist beats his shield as the activists regroup after clashing with pro-government supporters during a rally and march in Donetsk, Ukraine.
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A pro-Russian activist sits at a barricade at the regional administration building in Donetsk, Ukraine.
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A member of the Ukrainian special forces takes position at an abandoned roadblock in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk. Ukraine’s military launched an assault on the flashpoint rebel-held town of Slavyansk, sending in armored vehicles and a helicopter.
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The body of Ukrainian councilman Volodymyr Rybak, lies in the coffin prior to his funeral after his body was found in the eastern city of Horlivka, Ukraine.
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At a symbolic graveyard laid out in Prague, Czech Republic, a child hugs one of 107 crosses commemorating the people who died during the recent protest on Kiev’s Independent Square.
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An Orthodox priest blesses the crowd at a pro-Russian rally outside the secret service building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk.
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Pro-Russia activists raise hands to voice their opinion during a rally outside the regional police building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Horlivka.
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Pro-Russian protesters burn tires as they prepare for battle with Ukrainian special police forces on the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk.
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Crimeans celebrate in the central square in Simferopol, Ukraine on Friday. Russian President Vladimir signed a bill Friday making Crimea and the city of Sevastopol part of Russia.
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Ukrainian men push a car decorated with symbols of the European Union and Ukraine near Independence Square in Kiev. On Friday, Ukrainian officials sealed a deal deepening political cooperation with the 28-nation European Union.
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People wave flags as they watch Russian President Vladimir Putin deliver a speech in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
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Men install a Russian flag and a Crimean flag on the roof of the Bakhchysarai, Ukraine City Hall. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave approval Tuesday to a draft bill for annexation of Crimea.
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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin addresses a joint session of Russian parliament on Crimea in the Kremlin.
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Russian military vehicles travel the road between the Crimean cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol in Ukraine. Legislators in Crimea declared the region independent of Ukraine and adopted the Russian ruble as the official currency.
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Members of a “self-defense” unit carry a friend’s coffin in Kiev this month.
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People hold flags during a rally in central Moscow on Friday in a show of solidarity with pro-Russian authorities in the Ukrainian region of Crimea.
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A coffin with the body of Volodymyr Topiy, 59, who was found burned in the house of trade unions during recent clashes, is carried along a street during his funeral in Kiev’s Independence Square.
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A Ukrainian soldier speaks to his daughter through a gate as he waits inside the Sevastopol tactical military brigade base near Belbek in Sevastopol.
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A Ukrainian airman puts the national flag over the gate as they guard what’s left under their control at the Belbek air base, outside Sevastopol, Ukraine.
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Demonstrators rally in Simferopol, a city in Ukraine’s Crimea region. One of their signs says, “Crimea belongs to us! Citizens of Ukraine. Russian troops scare us.” Another says, “We are united against war!”
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Police arrested hundreds in Moscow and dozens in St. Petersburg as they protested against military intervention in Ukraine.
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Ukrainians wave various national flags at a rally against Russian intervention in Kiev’s Independence Square.
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Unidentified masked individuals hold a Russian flag as they block the Trade Union building in Simferopol, the administrative center of Crimea.
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Russian activists clash with opposition fighters as they storm the regional government building in Kharkiv.
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Protesters hold a banner reading “Donetsk region with Russia” and a placard reading “South-east against fascism!” during a rally in the industrial Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
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One of the armed masked men who call themselves members of Ukraine’s disbanded elite Berkut riot police force aims his Klashnikov rifle at a checkpoint under Russian flags on a highway that connects the Black Sea Crimea peninsula to mainland Ukraine.
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WASHINGTON — President Obama on Thursday announced new economic sanctions against Russian government officials, influential individuals and a Russian bank, threatening to come back with tougher penalties if Moscow does not deescalate the crisis in Ukraine.

“Further escalation will only isolate it further from the international community,” Obama said in remarks on the South Lawn of the White House. The U.S. is concerned that “Russia has positioned its military” in a threatening way, he added.

The president said the new sanctions would target additional senior Russian government officials, other individuals with “substantial resources and influence,” and a bank. He also signed an executive order that would allow him to slap broader sanctions on sectors of the Russian economy, a move that “is not our preferred outcome,” Obama said, acknowledging that such sanctions could be “disruptive” to the global economy.

A short time after Obama’s statement, Russia announced that it was imposing entry bans on nine U.S. lawmakers and officials in retaliation for Washington’s sanctions over Crimea, the Associated Press reported.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry’s list included House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The new U.S. sanctions will hit 16 Russian government officials, members of Putin’s inner circle and Bank Rossiya, the bank used by many senior officials of the Russian Federation.

The government officials who were targeted are high-ranking bureaucrats and lawmakers who publicly backed Putin’s call to use Russian forces to occupy Crimea, according to the Treasury Department, which issued a statement identifying the individuals who were sanctioned.

Those in Putin’s inner circle include Yuri Kovalchuk, the largest shareholder of Bank Rossiya and Putin’s personal banker; Gennady Timchenko, a founder of a commodity trading company involved in the oil and energy markets; and Arkady Rotenberg and Boris Rotenberg, brothers who made billions on Putin-awarded contracts with Gazprom, the state-controlled energy company, and the Sochi Winter Olympics.

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The new penalties build on sanctions the U.S. and European Union announced Monday in a last-ditch attempt to keep Russian President Vladimir Putin from formally annexing Crimea. Those penalties, targeting just a handful of Russian and Ukrainian officials, did nothing to shift Putin’s course. Administration officials have since promised more would be coming.

Obama’s options are limited. In a television interview on Wednesday, he argued that he doesn’t want to do anything that would “trigger an actual war with Russia.” The administration thus far has turned away the idea of sending military equipment to the new Ukrainian government.

Rather, the White House is focused on sending financial aid to the nascent government and tightening the economic pressure on Putin. The White House warned Wednesday that international sanctions will eventually target Russia’s business oligarchs, who have extensive holdings around the world.

U.S. and European officials have tried to present a united front, though disagreements in Europe have made that difficult. Some European countries have been pushing for strong action, while those more dependent on Russia for energy and trade are more reluctant to back tough penalties that might also create economic trouble at home.

To date, the threats and sanctions seem to have had little effect on Putin’s decision making. Western officials fear the former KGB operative may push further into Ukraine, while leaders of other neighboring countries have expressed anxiety over Russia’s plans.

Vice President Joe Biden was deployed this week to Eastern Europe to reassure NATO allies that the U.S. will stand up against any aggressive acts. Ukraine is not a NATO member.